Thursday, July 1, 2010

Region II Spotlight: New York

DeMolay International divides its "Jurisdictions" (generally meaning a State or Country) into Regions. Pennsylvania is part of Region II which includes New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Nation's Capital, Ontario (in Canada, eh?) and Italy. Our region has a long history of excellence, and is renowned for how well we work together in planning Regional Conferences and events such as the Mid Atlantic Tournament of Champions (MATOC for short.)

However, the average DeMolay doesn't really get to interact with members from other Jurisdictions unless he goes to one of these events. One of the most interesting things in DeMolay is how different each Jurisdiction can be while still working within the guidelines set forth by DeMolay International. In an effort to familiarize you with our sister Jurisdictions from our Region, this blog will present a series of "Region II Spotlight" articles to give you some information about DeMolay in Region II

Region II Spotlight on New York

New York is the 3rd largest state in terms of population after California and Texas. New York City served as the first Capital of the United States after the Constitution was ratified, though after 2 years, the Capital moved to Philadelphia. This is presumably because the cheesesteaks are better, though scholars have not confirmed that this was the reason for the move.

In spite of the open land in the state, New York's population is very urban, with 92%of residents living in an urban area. New York is a slow growing state with a large rate of domestic migration to other states. In 2000 and 2005, more people moved from New York to Florida than from any one state to another. However, New York state is one of the leading destinations for international immigration and thus has the second largest immigrant population in the country (after California) at 4.2 million as of 2008.

New York DeMolay currently has 408 members, split into 4 Divisions (from West to East, they are Niagara Frontier, Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, and Metropolitan). Each Division consists of 3-6 Chapters, and the Chapters in each Division help each other out with Installations and induction ceremonies, and get together for Division-level activities. Each Division elects a Master Councilor to help oversee these activities, and a Division Executive Officer is in charge of running that Division (reporting to Dad Bill Sardone, the current Executive Officer).

At its annual Convention in August, New York elects state officers (the current State Master Councilor is Andrew Roberts). In recent years, the Convention has been held at college campuses, with a focus on sports. Other state activities include Grand Master's Class, LeadCon, and Winterfest.

New York DeMolay has one of the best Alumni programs in the country. The Alumni have sponsored the Convention hospitality room, held charity fundraisers, and hold an annual Hall of Fame dinner to honor distinguished Senior DeMolays from New York.

New York DeMolay is known for a high spirit of brotherhood, so the next time you're up here, you'll always be welcome at a Chapter!

Special thanks go out to "Dad" Greg Schaeffer, PMC-MSA of Elizabethtown Chapter, and current Director of Ritual for New York DeMolay, for this article. Many of you may know "Dad" Schaeffer from his involvment in the Key Man Conference as its Director. What you may not know is that "Dad" Schaeffer is a Guitar Hero Master, recovering band geek, and bar coded human drone for IBM. Well, drone might be going a little far, but he does work for IBM. Also, he can beat you in DDR. Don't even try.